A Different Kind of Workout

Post # 120

Salt Lake City, Utah - I've been out in Utah for a few days visiting my family for the holidays. My brother lives out here now and is a champ downhill skier (he doesn't race, but he's got serious skills). We had planned to do a bunch of downhill skiing while we were here, but I rallied my parents to go cross-country skiing with me as well. The post-Olympic period is a better time than any to try out new activities and I had always wanted to try my hand at a sport I've heard so much about. I was excited when there was no parental resistance to my idea, and we headed up to a nearby ski track the next morning.

Things I didn't know before we strapped on our skis: 1. My parents were both certified nordic ski instructors back in the day (how was this left out of the original discussion?). 2. They both still have a knack for teaching beginners (read: me).

I learned pretty quickly that similar to my main sport, nordic skiing is very repetitive and requires a lot of strength, technique, and balance. The former, I'm pretty good with. The latter two, not so much. Actually, not at all. Cross-country skiing is a different kind of motion on a different kind of surface than I'm used to. I had no idea what I was doing, but I kind of picked it up as I logged some km's. Still, I couldn't help but spend the whole time thinking about the efficiency of the motion, trying to understand how the skis moved, and figuring out how this crazy motion is supposed to look (and then asking my parents how closely I compared - they were forgiving in their assessments). What can I say, my brain is wired for efficiency.

The only picture of me skiing, and it doesn't even look like I'm wearing skis.

By the end of the day, I had gotten a great workout in and had gained huge respect for my ITA teammates Brian, Torin, and Sylvan. Major props to them. Cross-country skiing requires a lot of skill and cardiovascular fitness - not that I ever doubted them, but now I know for sure. For you three, good luck at US Nationals next week. I'll be watching and cheering from afar.

The Teammate Bond

Post # 119

I recently found myself in a seemingly unlikely situation: I was hiking near San Francisco with three girls I had rowed with in high school. We were 3,000 miles away from Boston, where we grew up, and it had been over eight years since we sat at a starting line together. We had only kept in touch here and there during college, but once we realized that half of our high school 8 lived in the bay area, we starting hanging out again, having adventures, and reminiscing about our days at Community Rowing. Sure, we'd had different college experiences and a lot of things had happened between 2004 and 2012, but it didn't matter. We picked up right where we had left off because we had bonded in our years as teammates.

Hiking in SF the other week. We competed together over eight years ago. 

The bonds developed steadily over the years, both in high school and in college. They developed each morning when we woke up early, came down to the boathouse for practice, and tried to squeeze the best performances out of each other. They developed during the hours on the water together, in practices with extreme cold/ice/snow, humidity, torrential downpours, thick fog, or insane wind. They developed during the annual fifteen hour van ride from Boston to South Carolina for winter training in high school. In college, they developed when our flights would be hours delayed on the east coast on a Sunday night and we'd play games to pass the time. 

The bonds got even stronger when we raced together. I remember the final sprint of many regional and national championships. Sometimes we were ahead of the field and other times we had to make up ground on our rivals in the final strokes of the race. Regardless of the situation, everyone had each others' back and we were doing everything we could to get our team across the line first. We wanted to work hard for each other and the team. 

With Wisco teammates Margot and Adrienne racing for the Badgers in New Jersey (left) and hanging out in California the night before I left for London (right). Adrienne also visited over the weekend (and came pounding on my door on Sunday morning as a surprise!). 

Over the years, we learned to have each others' backs in all sorts of situations, not just during practices or races. We became each others' family, and because of that, it's not really unlikely at all that we picked up right where we left off. Even though we're not competing together anymore, we'll always be there for each other, back each other up, and be on each others' team. 

GOTR Final 5k

Post # 118

Yesterday was the fall season Final 5k for the Girls on the Run of the Bay Area. I'm no longer a coach for GOTR but I volunteer with them every so often. Yesterday I was a Running Buddy for Mia, a speedster from Oakland. Running buddies are assigned to each girl who runs the 5k and their job is to help encourage them. It's great because the entire community of runners gets pulled together through the Running Buddy program; it's not just the girls running the 5k.

The morning of the 5k, it was pouring rain. As we gathered pre-race, it was coming down in sheets and we were all huddled underneath our umbrellas. The race went off anyway and despite the weather, it was such a fun time. I couldn't believe how positive Mia and the girls around her were. Even though we were splashing through big puddles, she kept on running, hitting her landmarks, and encouraging girls around her that she didn't even know before the race. I love how sports can teach you to band together as a team and help each other stay positive even if the situation isn't perfect. There were a lot of soggy clothes, tired girls, and big smiles after the race.

Luckily after a week of rain, the blue sky returned this afternoon. I'm excited to get back out on the water tomorrow morning. With last week's gusts of 50 mph, it's been too windy to row for an entire week now!

Finishing Off a Great Fall Season

Post #117

Today's race in San Mateo marked the end of the fall 2012 season for Oakland Youth Rowing. The boys raced in quads, doubles, and singles. The course was the curviest I've ever seen and had three bridges, but they handled it like pros. All of the kids came off the water with big smiles on their faces and stories of crazy, hard fought races.

The highlight of the day for me was when I was approached by a coach of another team asking if we had kids who would do a last minute race in a double. Their team was going to be uncontested in the event and they wanted a competitor. The hitch? It was starting in less than an hour and it was a mixed double (meaning one boy and one girl). The Oakland athletes were all exhausted from racing once already, but I approached two of them about doing it anyway. Before I even finished my sentence, they were jumping up and down and screaming "YES! YES WE'LL DO IT!" As we speed-rigged one of the doubles to get it ready to go, they couldn't stop talking about how amazed they were that the opportunity had come up. How great is that attitude?

In our post-race team meeting, I thought back on the last few months and all of our experiences as a team. When I first came to OYR in September, the boys team was about half the size it is now. By the end of the season, we've drawn so many more people to the sport of rowing and made tons of progress with fitness, technique, and race experience as a team. I am so impressed with how far we've come in only a couple months.

Congrats to the entire OYR family for a fantastic fall season. Can't wait to get the winter started.

Charles Wrap-Up

Post # 116

I'm back in Cali after racing at Head of the Charles in Boston. The Oakland Youth doubles and I all raced on Sunday, which was a gorgeous sunny day. We had close enough start times that as I warmed up, I saw each of them power by in their races and cheered extremely loud for each of them. The boys placed 40th and the girls placed 10th. Now we have an idea of where we stand and a platform to improve on for this weekend.

(photos by row2k.com)

My race, which started right after theirs, was really, really difficult. No races are easy, but when you have a strong headwind pushing against you nearly the whole way down the course, it feels like a constant battle with the elements. Add to that the fact that I haven't trained as hard as I normally do in this post-Olympic "break" and it was pretty brutal. I know what it feels like to race when I'm in peak fitness and now I know that it feels a lot worse when I'm not. Ouch!

It's a good thing I had the help of everyone cheering. Being from Boston, I had a lot of fans along the river: Amory of In the Arena, her whole family, my parents, uncle, and cousins, my college team, a huge Wisconsin alumni tent, my Oakland rowers, and friends scattered along the whole course. There are so many bridges and riverbanks along the course that you can really hear everyone. It was great. I got back on land and learned that I had successfully defended my title and won my event!

The doubles and I are back in action, along with about 50 other Oakland Youth rowers, in Sacramento this weekend for Head of the American.

Head of the Charles

Post # 115

Boston, Massachusetts - The best weekend of the whole year is almost here. Head of the Charles is a three-mile race on the Charles River in Boston and it's a weekend filled with reunions and racing. Nearly the entire rowing world in the US convenes there and this year it also has rowers from over twenty countries. More than 100 London Olympians will be competing (myself included) which means it'll be a fantastic weekend to watch live or from afar. This is the live webcast and here are the results.

Below is my own "who to watch" preview. All times are eastern, so subtract 3 hrs for the west coast equivalent.

Saturday:
4:14 pm Men's Championship Singles - bow #1 is Mahe Drysdale, a New Zealander who is the reigning Olympic champion and five-time World Champion in the men's heavyweight single. Talk about some credentials!
4:23 pm Women's Championship Singles - bow #1 is Gevvie Stone, a good friend of mine and a fellow Bostonian. She won this event last year and was the USA's women's single in London. Bow #2 is Mirka Knapkova from the Czech Republic, 2011 World Champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the single. Bow #3 is Kim Crow from Australia, who won two medals in London.

Sunday:
11:55 am Men's Youth Doubles - bow #32 are the boys I coach, representing Oakland Youth Rowing. Cheer for the teal, blue, and yellow blades!
12:12 pm Women's Youth Doubles - Bow #17 is also Oakland Youth Rowing. So excited for these two doubles.
12:44 pm Women's Lightweight Singles - Bow #1 is me! I'll be representing the Wisco Alumni with red blades.
2:55 pm Men's Championship 8s - Tons of fantastic entries in this event. The Champ 8 at the Charles is pretty much the only time that colleges get to race national teams. Bow #2 has five US Olympians in it and bow #3 are the reigning National Champions from the University of Washington. Bow #4 is the "great 8," eight of the world's premier single scullers, all from different countries, who have come together in a superstar 8.
3:08 pm Women's Championship 8s - There's a ton of talent in the women's version of this event too. Bow #5 is the USA gold medal Olympic 8. Bow #6 is the Canadian silver medal Olympic 8. Bow #8 is the women's "great 8," including plenty of London medallists. Bow #9 is a New Zealand/Great Britain mix of some of the best small boat rowers in the world.
4:45 pm Women's Lightweight 8s - Bow #1 are the Wisconsin Lightweights, my college team. Go Badgers.

Good luck to everyone racing!

Olympic Day in San Fran

Post # 114

Last week, I was part of a big "Olympic Day" celebration in San Fran. Kids from seven different Boys and Girls Clubs came to hang out with me, Trooper Johnson (a four-time Paralympian in basketball), and Julian Munoz (an '88 and '92 Olympic alpine skier). They learned about three very different sports, saw some medals, asked a bunch of questions, and got our autographs. Trooper, Julian and I loved being a part of it and meeting all the kids. My favorite moment was watching Trooper and Ivan, one of the kids at the club who is in a wheelchair, play basketball together in Trooper's fancy wheelchairs. Ivan had a big smile plastered on his face the whole time. 

Thanks BASOC and BGC SF! (photos by Kristin Glickman)

The kids did a great job decorating the whole Boys and Girls Club for the event

Checking out my 2011 World Cup gold medal 

 Trooper talking to the kids. He challenged a few of them to play basketball with him, too!

Finally, a big shout out to Katya, one of my Girls on the Run from last fall, who is turning 10 tomorrow. Happy birthday!! I got to see Katya and be a guest coach for the team over the weekend, which was a blast. Have a great day, girl.

Yamile, me, and Katya at practice last week

Oakland Youth Rowing

Post #113

Oakland, California - As part of my ITA community work this fall, I've been coaching the youth programs at Oakland Rowing Association. Oakland Rowing is a club that started last year and is open to kids and adults from around the East Bay. We're growing fast and getting lots of people involved in the sport. In the youth programs, we've got mostly middle school and young high school kids, which is pretty crazy for me to see. I didn't know what rowing was when I was in eighth grade, and it's amazing to see how much some of my eighth graders (or the sixth graders) already know about rowing!

Much to their dismay, I've introduced some of my favorite college workouts to the boys' team over the past few weeks. They've done awesome on them though, and we've already made tons of progress in both fitness and technique. We've got a big intra-team scrimmage this Saturday (boys versus girls, it's on!) and our first race is less than two weeks away in Sacramento.

If you're interested in keeping up with Oakland Rowing, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. And let me know if you want to come join the club and learn how to row!

The boys in doubles and quads 

 Our boathouse

The girls in doubles with San Fran in the background

Post-practice sunset at the boathouse

Post-Olympic Celebrations

Post #112

Over the last month, I've gotten to be part of several events honoring US Olympians. While I was home in Boston, I joined with other New England Olympians at Fenway Park and walked out onto the field before the game. I've been going to Fenway for games since I was a kid, so it was incredible to actually get to go out onto the field and hear the cheers from my hometown crowd. Gymnast Aly Raisman, Judo champ Kayla Harrison, and two women's basketball players threw out the first pitches. 

With ITA-er, Olympic mountain biker, and Vermonter Lea Davison at Fenway Park. #12 for the 2012 Olympics.

Singing the national anthem at Fenway. Gymanst Aly Raisman is second from the right and Judo champ Kayla Harrison is third from the right. 

Last weekend, I flew out to Washington, DC to join the entire US Olympic and Paralympic team in  meeting the President. We landed, went straight to a reception hosted by Olympic sponsors, and woke up the next morning ready for the big event. We were so jet lagged but super excited at the same time. We mingled on the South Lawn of the White House for about two hours before taking our seats and waiting for the President. I sat right behind Michael Phelps. First Lady Michelle Obama and President Obama spoke, and their messages made me proud to have represented our country. Afterwards, he told his advisors to change his schedule because he wanted to meet each and every one of us. How awesome is that? I got to shake his hand, Vice President Biden's hand, and got a hug from Michelle. They are incredibly down to earth and kind people. Here's the video from the event and it features one of my rowing teammates, Natalie Dell. Also, see if you can spot me sitting behind Michelle!

Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool on a morning run in DC

Today I joined with other Bay Area Olympians for a recognition at the Oakland Raiders game. We got VIP treatment from start to finish. We started with a tour of the training facility, then got a police-escorted bus to the stadium, watched pre-game practice on the field, saw most of the game from a suite, and went back onto the field during halftime to be recognized. The crowd went crazy when they realized we had represented our country in London. I thought I felt supported before, but to hear an entire stadium full of people screaming in support of your achievements brings it to a whole new level.

With one of my favorite Olympians, swimmer Natalie Coughlin

 All of the Bay Area Olympians at the Raiders game

Each of these post-Olympic experiences have blown me away. I've been able to meet and connect with so many amazing athletes: a discus thrower, javelin throwers, sprinters, swimmers, water polo players, mountain bikers, a luger, triathletes, kayakers...the list goes on and on. Everyone has gone through so much to get to the point where they can call themselves an Olympian and it's easy for us to find common ground over the hard work and dedication it took to achieve our dreams.

When Michelle Obama addressed all of us at the White House, she recognized that becoming Olympians happened when no one was watching. It was the early mornings, months or years before the Games, days when we were exhausted but pushing through the training because we believed that someday, it would pay off. That is so true, but also so easy to forget when we're wrapped up in these post-Olympic celebrations. If I think back to all the hours of hard work it took to get here, or, even worse, all the hours it would take to do it all over again, it's completely overwhelming. At some point I think I'll crave the hard work again, but for now, I'm enjoying the celebrations and not thinking about it too much.

Back to Life

Post # 111

Oakland, California - The rest of the Olympics were a blur. I spent most of the second week hanging out with friends, exploring the Olympic Village, going to see other sports, and touring around London. It was all really amazing but my favorite moment of the second week had to be walking into the Olympic stadium for Closing Ceremonies. Seeing the thousands of spectators, being alongside athletes from all different countries, and knowing the world was watching was just incredible. I remember watching athletes walk into the ceremonies at previous Olympics and thinking that had to be one of the coolest feelings in the world, but having it actually happen to me puts it beyond words. It was unbelievable. I'll remember that moment forever.

The Spice Girls at Closing Ceremonies

It is a difficult task to transition to life after the Games. In the months leading up to the Olympics, I was so wrapped up in the preparations that I wasn't thinking about life afterwards at all. Like most Olympic athletes, once that one gigantic event is over and you come back to real life, you're left wondering what comes next.  Some people have called it "Post Olympic Stress Disorder." Though I don't think it's quite that dramatic, it is strange to wonder where you fit in, what you want to do, and how you want to structure your days.

One of my biggest priorities is giving back to the community and working with kids. Now that I've had the experience of competing at the Olympics, I want to inspire others to figure out the goals they want to achieve and then chase after them. I've spoken to a few different groups/teams in the area about my experience so far and plan to do more of that over the next few months. I've also started coaching at Oakland Youth Rowing, a community club on the Oakland Estuary (the same body of water that I've been training on for parts of the past year). I'll mostly be working with the high school boys' team, but in the last week I've also worked with the high school girls and all of the middle school kids. It has been a blast so far and I'm excited to see what these guys are capable of doing this season.

Boys' double

Girls' 8 (on the left) rounds the corner to the dock 

Me and some of the middle school girls

Talking to all of the high schoolers about my road to the Olympics

Go Lea!

Post # 110

London, England - On Saturday, I got to go to Lea Davison's Olympic mountain bike race at Hadleigh Farm. I was sitting in the stands with Sarah Groff, a USA triathlete, 2012 Olympian, and former ITA athlete. It was so much fun, and Lea did an awesome job. She was so happy afterwards. I took tons of photos - here are some of the best.

Lea on the red bike, tackling the rocks 

All smiles as she approaches the finish line

 Me and Sarah Groff

Getting all cleaned up after her race

USA high fives

Also found this good luck message in the USA Proctor & Gamble House in London!

Olympics: final week

Post #109

London, England - It's already been six days since the rowing competition wrapped up. With an 11th place finish overall at the Olympics, the racing didn't end the way we wanted it to. We had shown good speed earlier in the season, but when the final race came, we were unable to keep pace with many of the teams we had earlier on in the year, and even within the regatta. The Olympics are the biggest stage I've ever been on and it's difficult to feel like you didn't have your best performance when it mattered the most. It hit me harder than I thought it would and it'll probably take me a while to process all of this.

For now, I'm trying to enjoy the last few days of the Olympics. My team and I have moved into the main athlete village in London and it is incredible here. There are so many athletes from all over the world - way more countries than we had at the rowing village. My family and a couple friends were able to come in for a few hours and get a quick tour. The dining hall is easily the most impressive sight; feeding 10,500 athletes isn't an easy feat and requires a gigantic space to make it happen. Below are some photos from the last few days.

Lastly, good luck to Lea Davison, an ITA athlete who will be competing in mountain biking in London tomorrow!

ITA at the London Olympics

Me and my bro

Football Field sized Main Athlete Dining Hall

 I got to go to the gold medal beach volleyball game: USA vs. USA!

Semifinal Time

Post # 108

London, England - We are on to the semifinal after placing third in our heat on Sunday and first in our repechage today.

Rowing to the Olympic starting line. Photo credit: Row2k.com

Starting line of the heat. Photo credit: Row2k.com

The semifinal is set for Thursday at 10:30 am local time. We'll be facing New Zealand (world record holders as of May), Great Britain (won their heat on Sunday), Greece (reigning World Champions), Germany (2010 World silver medallists), and Cuba (3rd in our repechage today).  Top 3 crews will advance to the A final and a shot at the medals. The rest will head to the B final.

I've heard lots of stories of friends/family/supporters waking up in the middle of the night to watch my races live. Some have taken pictures of me on the TV screen or of themselves watching and sent them on to me. We were even on primetime NBC in the US on Sunday night - amazing! I can't even express how cool it is to sit on the starting line and feel all the support from back in the US. Simply incredible.

Across all rowing events, the US has had good results so far. The men's 8+, women's 4x, and women's 2- will be racing for the medals tomorrow, and each of them has a great chance to get on the podium. Our women's 8+ won their heat and will be racing to defend their Olympic gold on Thursday. Also racing for the medals on Thursday is our women's 2x. The women's single, men's 4-, and men's 2- all have semifinals in the next couple days. Our men's 4x and 1x have not made it to the A/B semifinals, but they put up a great fight to get as far as they did. Our lightweight men's 4- raced in the semis today and will have their last race in the B final.

As I write this, I'm watching the US gymnasts try to grab the team title. Feeling so much Team USA pride these days!

Let the Games Begin

Post # 107

London, England - The Games are officially here! Last night as we watched the Opening Ceremonies on TV from the rowing village (we're too far away from London and are racing too soon to go march in them), I couldn't help but feel excited to be part of this amazing event. We're surrounded only by rowers out here at our satellite village, which makes it easy to forget that there are SO many other sports being contested just an hour and a half away in London. It can make it hard to grasp the magnitude of the Olympics, but last night I could start to feel how gigantic this really is. All I can say is that I'm so proud to represent the USA and I'm excited to get the racing started!

In our Opening Ceremonies outfits at the Rowing Village

I've had a lot of people ask me when/how to watch my race on TV. I don't know when they are going to air our event, but it seemed like today they were airing the racing live - which means if you want to see it in the US, you'll have to be up early! Here in London, we are 5 hours ahead of the east coast and 8 hours ahead of the west coast. The best way to figure out when it's on is to go to nbcolympics.com and search for your local listings.

Our event is the lightweight double (LW2x) and here's our race schedule. All times are local.

Sunday July 29: Heats beginning at 10:40 am. Top 2 from each heat advance directly to semifinals, the rest go to the repechage.
Tuesday July 31: Repechages beginning at 10:10 am. Top 3 from each rep advance to the A/B semifinal.
Thursday August 2: A/B semifinals beginning at 10:30 am. Top 3 from each semi go to the A final. The rest go to the B final.
Saturday August 4: Finals

For tomorrow's heat, we'll see Canada, Brazil, Australia, Greece, and the Netherlands at 10:50 am. We've raced all of these combinations before and it promises to be some great racing. I'm really looking forward to experiencing what it's like to race at the Olympics for the first time. If this morning's racing is any indication of what tomorrow will be like, there will be TONS of people cheering; the last 500 meters will be like rowing into a stadium full of fans. I hope I hear lots of USA fans, but I'm guessing it'll be so loud I'll barely be able to hear myself making the calls in the boat!

Here are a few photos from the past few days. Go USA!

Official 2012 US Olympic Rowing Team photo

Last week's "college uni day." Each member of the women's team wears their college uni to recognize and give thanks to the programs that got us here. I'm second from the right, and the lone Wisco representative! The schools with the most athletes are Cal, Washington, and Princeton. 

The view out my window at the Rowing Village

The daily village newspaper